Rules of Being a Fantasy Football Player

When NFL Sunday comes around, several thousand fantasy football enthusiasts eagerly anticipate top-notch performances from their respective teams that they compiled back on draft day. It is an exciting day for these players, as there is often a great deal of money and/or pride on the line; however, you must not let yourself get carried away with this fantasy football frenzy. There are certain ways to conduct yourself in public when participating in fantasy football leagues. Please refer to the three important rules below:

1. If watching NFL games with a bunch of "traditional" football fans that never participate in fantasy football leagues, then keep your fantasy football performance to yourself. These people actually care more about what team wins rather than what player throws for over 350 yards and 4 touchdowns. If you start shouting out fantasy stats among this crowd, you will be frowned upon immensely. Sooner than later, you will find yourself looking for a new group to hang out with on Sunday afternoons. Perhaps, if you look hard enough, you may find someone that cares as much about your fantasy football team as you do.

2. Do not ever let your fantasy football team get in the way of your "real" team. Most fantasy football players out there have a certain team they've been a fan of for a number of years. If you are a hardcore Dallas Cowboys fan and have Tony Romo on your team, then you should not be disappointed if Felix Jones runs for a touchdown. Sure, you didn't get a touchdown pass from Romo, but your team just scored a touchdown for crying out loud! That alone should make you thrilled. If you find yourself more upset than jubilant, then you need to ask yourself if you even care about your team anymore.

The same rule applies when your team is playing defense against one of your running backs. You DO NOT root for your running back to score three touchdowns against your favorite NFL team. Perhaps you can avoid that drama by replacing that running back with a player from your bench, that isn't playing against your team. If, though, that running back happens to be an irreplaceable fantasy stud like Chris Johnson or Adrian Peterson, then by all means, keep him in your starting lineup. With players of that ability, you don't need to root for them-they will most likely put up good numbers for your fantasy team, anyways, no matter who the opponent, so go ahead and pretend to hate your running back with a passion that week!

3. If you wanted to gain the full respect of the fantasy football community, there is one common thing you must stay away from. One of the most annoying and tiresome lines from fantasy football players is something of this nature: "Oh, you are so lucky I had Brett Favre on the bench instead of Eli Manning! If I had started Eli yesterday, I would've beat you!" Fantasy football veterans are occasionally crying this line, but for the most part, it is the rookies and newbies that want to make the entire world aware of what great stars they had on the bench in a given week. First off, every other team in your league could probably dish out the same statement, as there is always at least one bench player on your team that severely outperforms his projections versus a certain opponent. Secondly, part of being a good fantasy football player is knowing how to MANAGE your team. Part of managing your team is knowing who to sit and who to start. If you continuously have bench players put up better stats than your starters, then perhaps managing fantasy football teams is not your forte. Whatever the case may be, spare everyone around you your tear-story of how you lost by 2 points because of a bad roster move. Deal with it and look forward to next week.